I admit: I'm freaking stressed. There are times when stress is dumped on us and there is nothing we can do but manage it. Divorce (me), death, acts of God (like Sandy), car accidents, violent crime. These are not events that most people (unless you're a trained Buddhist monk) can easily brush aside.
I don't want to be stressed because it is associated with a lot of health problems like chronic anxiety, insomnia, muscle aches and pains, weakened immune system (illness), heart disease, depression, chronic eating, infertility, erectile dysfunction, forgetfulness, headaches, being short-tempered, muscle aches, lack of energy, and possibly even increased risk of cancer.
These are ways that I've used to cope:
- While it's important to let your stress out, you don't want to tell your (in my case, divorce) story to everyone you meet up with all day every day. Find one person you can confide in, your sister or your therapist and let it rip. I love my therapist, she's like a smart big sister. Beyond that, telling the story over and over and over not only makes you more stressed, but drives people away and identifies you with the stress issue.
You can be stressed out and negative or you can stay positive. It's your choice.
Peace, love, and understanding.
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